Is former Texas Lottery Executive Director Gary Grief missing?

Texas lawmakers continue to hold hearings into the April 23, 2023, Lotto Texas drawing, in which a private company named Rook TX purchased every possible number combination and guaranteed itself a $95 million jackpot.

Multiple individuals have testified before the commission, including Greg Potts, the COO of lottery ticket courier service Lottery.com, and several executives from the Texas Lottery Commission.

Gary Grief was the executive director of the Texas Lottery during the Rook TX buyout, and his actions made it possible for the wealthy gamblers to purchase 25 million tickets in just three days.

Despite his central role in the scheme, he has never testified or spoken publicly about his role in the drawing, and he retired when state authorities launched an investigation into potential crimes surrounding the game.

Now, a new report claims that Grief is missing and may have even fled the country. While this information still needs to be verified, if it is true, it does beg the question: has the former director gone on the run, and if so, why?

Where is Gary Grief

The original allegation that Grief is missing comes from the online publication Texas Scorecard. On April 3, reporter Branden Waltens wrote that sources informed him that authorities could not locate Grief, and he might have moved to Mexico.

Waltens reached out to Grief's attorney David Gonzales, but he could not be reached for comment. A second attorney, Sam Bassett, later claimed that Grief was at home and not missing, but Walten wrote that that claim could not be independently verified.

Grief has not issued any public statements to confirm or deny his current location.

Who is Gary Grief?

Grief worked for the Texas Lottery Commission for over three decades, serving as its executive director for twelve years until his abrupt retirement in February 2024, following the launch of an investigation into the April 23, 2023 Lotto Texas drawing.

During his tenure as commission leader, Grief was considered a successful director who grew lottery revenue from $3.6 billion in 2010 to $8.7 billion in 2023.

However, his time in office also saw significant controversy, particularly regarding the use of lottery ticket courier services, which allow players to order a ticket through an app on their phone, which the couriers then buy from a licensed retailer.

While many states either explicitly ban the services or allow them to operate under significant regulations, Grief actively supported them and allowed them to operate with little oversight despite their questionable legality.

Texas law explicitly bans the sale of lottery tickets over the phone, but Grief agreed with the courier services' argument that they were not selling tickets, just delivering them, even though many of the services were also licensed ticket retailers, meaning they essentially sold tickets to themselves.

Grief and the Courier services

In 2024, the state's Sunset Advisory Commission (SAC) launched an investigation into the Texas Lottery Commission and its involvement with courier services and Rook TX.

Shortly after regulators began looking into his agency, Grief retired from the commission and refused to cooperate with the investigation.

The subsequent report released by SAC blasted Grief as someone who operated outside the lines and failed to enforce state lottery rules vigorously. The report stated that Grief exploited legal grey areas to support courier services that may have been operating illegally.

The report also notes that the Texas Lottery Commission's legal staff brought up regulatory issues with the courier services as far back as 2016, but Grief consistently ignored their opinions, took a hands-off approach to regulating them, and never consulted with the state Attorney General's office.

SAC investigators believe Grief may have been motivated by his desire to continuously grow lottery revenue. Their report states, “It is impossible to discount the possibility that the desire for increased sales may have motivated Grief's decisions on couriers.” 

Grief and Rook TX

Evidence also suggests that Grief may have improperly facilitated Rook TX's buyout of the April 23, 2023, Lotto Texas drawing.

To process 25 million tickets in just three days, retailers needed dozens of new ticketing machines and millions of official lottery play slips on short notice. The Lottery Commission approved all of these requests even though some came from retailers who hadn't sold tickets in several months and were out of compliance with state lottery regulations.

For example, Lottery.com shut down its operations in 2022 after an internal investigation revealed that executives had broken state law by illegally selling Texas lottery tickets to out-of-state buyers.

Additionally, while Texas Lottery regulations clearly state that lottery terminals can only be placed in brick-and-mortar stores that are open to the public and engaged in a business other than selling lottery tickets, Lottery.com had its terminals delivered to a private office that, according to investigations, served no purpose other than printing tickets.

Finally, Lottery.com was apparently allowed to print tickets even though it did not have an active sweeps account, which is legally required so the Texas Lottery Commission can collect money from ticket sales automatically.

Despite what appear to be clear violations of law and regulations, Grief made sure that Lottery.com and the other courier services had everything they needed to facilitate Rook TX manipulating the lottery and guaranteeing a jackpot.

Why would Grief go missing?

Lottery USA can't confirm Grief's current location. Having stated that, if Grief is missing, what would motivate him to go to Mexico or otherwise make himself hard for authorities to find?

One possibility is that he's trying to avoid having to testify in any of the ongoing hearings in the Texas State House. While those witness appearances have been voluntary so far, Grief may want to avoid being served a subpoena that would compel him to testify.

Grief may also want to protect himself from a recently filed civil lawsuit alleging a long-running fraud between himself and executives at Lottery.com.